Widnes Wild
| Widnes Wild | |
|---|---|
| City | Widnes, England |
| League | English National Ice Hockey League |
| Division | North 2 |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Home arena |
Silver Blades Ice Rink Capacity: 500 Ice size: 56m x 28m |
| Colours | White, black and yellow |
| Owner(s) | North West Winter Sports Club, Chairman - Matt Lloyd (Paralympian) |
| General manager | Jon Anderson |
| Head coach | Ollie Barron |
| Captain | Shaun Dippnall |
| Affiliate(s) | Manchester Storm |
| Farm club(s) | Widnes Junior Wild |
| Website | http://www.widneswild.co.uk/ |
Widnes Wild [1] are an English ice hockey team from the town of Widnes who play at Silver Blades Ice Rink in Widnes. They were formed in 2013. They currently compete in the Laidler Conference of the English Ice Hockey Association National Ice Hockey League (North).
The current club chairman is the Paralympian, Matt Lloyd.[2]
The club has a youth system, which starts at Under-9's as well as a Women's team competing in the Women's Premier League [3]
With the support of the local community the Widnes Wild run a vibrant schools programme to introduce children to ice hockey. [4]
In the 15/16 season the Wild finished second in the league. In the final league game of the season the Wild forfeited the games against the Deeside Dragons citing safety fears, after Wild player Lee Kemp suffered a head injury following a physical attack by Dragons Alex Roberts. [5]
League History[6]
Season Position Wins Draws Losses ± 2013-14 5 11 1 16 -50 2014-15 4 20 2 14 37 2015-16 2 19 3 6 86
Club Roster 16/17[7]
| # | Name | Position | Place of Birth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |  | Karl Niamatali | Forward | Walkden, England |
| 6 | | Will Barron | Forward | Sheffield, England |
| 7 | | Ollie Barron | Forward | Sheffield, England |
| 9 | | Ken Armstrong | Forward | Sale, England |
| 10 | | Danny Bullock | Forward/Defence | Manchester, England |
| 11 |  | David Swanston | Forward | Falkirk, Scotland |
| 14 | | Sheldon Cassidy | Forward | Manchester, England |
| 15 | | Lee Kemp | Defence | Nottingham, England |
| 16 | | Joe Gilbert | Defence | Coventry, England |
| 18 |  | Michal Fico | Forward | Sahy, Slovakia |
| 19 | | Nick Manning | Defence | Sheffield, England |
| 20 |  |
Bez Hughes | Defence | Wrexham, Wales |
| 24 | |
Stuart Brittle | Forward | Telford, England |
| 26 |  | Pavel Vales | Defence | Brno, Czech Republic |
| 37 | | Tom McDonald | Goaltender | Swindon, England |
| 39 | |
Matt Croyle | Goaltender | High Wycombe, England |
| 40 | | Tom Ratcliffe | Forward | Altrincham, England |
| 47 | | Chris Preston | Forward | Darwen, England |
| 51 | | Joshua Benstead | Goaltender | Worksop, England |
| 61 | | Kieran Strangeway | Defence | Hull, England |
| 64 | | Greg Ruxton | Goaltender | Blackrod, England |
| 84 | | Tom Jackson | Defender | Glossop, England |
| 85 | | Mike Mawer | Forward | Grimsby, England |
| 93 | | Shaun Dippnall | Forward | Astley, England |
